When we think of people migrating westward in the 19th century, we tend to think of covered wagons rolling along the Oregon trail. What many of us don't realize is that many people made the trek by handcart--small, wooden carts that they themselves pulled all the way west. These carts, though they had to be pulled by hand, were often able to make the trip in substantially less time than were covered wagons--and at a fraction of the cost.

Under the direction of the Mormon church, ten caravans of these carts crossed the plains into Utah. Two of them met with disaster as a result of poor planning among the companies' leadership, but for the most part this form of migration was a successful one.

In this book, Hafen gives details about each of the ten companies, including charts showing mileage and number of immigrants. Though the book is tailored to an LDS audience, it's scope is broad, and it should be of interest to anyone wanting to study the colonization of the American West.

If you have considered visiting two of America's most picturesque States you can't go wrong with this guide. Four important qualities characterize a good or great guidebook. First, does it provide the introductory information that every traveler needs: when to go, where to go, what to bring and "what about" information. Second, does it contain reliable and current travel information: lodging, dining, sightseeing, events, shopping and nightlife. Third, do we receive the kind of unique input about the culture, the historic sites and trivia that sets the guide apart from its competitors: outdoor information, camping, hiking, boating, fishing etc.,. And finally, are there sufficient number of accurate and detailed maps to allow a traveler to find the sites referenced in the book. Hidden Carolinas scores very high in all but the last category. The introduction wonderfully conveyed the history in an interesting connection with the lay of the land. The selection of hotels, restaurants and clubs were top notch. Unique to this guide is it's "hidden areas". These remarkable "off the beaten path" spots can easily be missed by the unaware traveler and are frequently left out altogether by other guides. The low mark is the paucity of maps (17 for both states). Maps to help you locate sites that are "hidden" should be a no-brainer. However, for an all round guide for both states you will find Hidden Carolinas a wonderful travel book to have. Recommended.

Zurick and Karan's book on the Himalaya is easily the best book in recent years focussing on the condition of the Himalayan environment. Instead of using evidence from a few small examples, usually villages scattered across the Himalaya from Pakistan to Assam, the authors invoke a meta analysis, an examination of many studies and especially data from the entire area. This technique avoids any instances of the universal fallacy, that is, generalizing from a few cases the characteristics of all.

The thematic focus is on what is called The Theory of Himalayan Degradation as it was constructed by the alarmists in the 1970s into the 1980s including the German ecologist H-C Reiger, earth scientists Bruno Messerli and Jack Ives, and journalists like Erik Eckolm, a sometime science editor of the NY Times. Much of this concern, that there is a widespread environmental catastrophe in the Himalaya, is still being promoted. Zurick and Karan, both human geographers who have have been studying the Himalaya for a total of sixty years, find in their analysis that the Himalayan environmental situation is highly variable, problems exist, but the basic scenario that overpopulation causes cultivated land expansion and deforestation of steep lands, thereby increasing erosion, and silt laden runoff deposited downstream, is overly simplistic.

The authors review a large number of field studies and data sets across the Himalaya and through cartographic analysis to demonstrate that the current status of the Himalayan environment is diverse. Through a series of seven intensive regional studies, in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan the authors demonstrate the contemporary environmental status. Factors such as historical land tenure systems, trading routes, border closings, road building and migration all play critical roles in influencing environmental perturbation.

For anyone interested in the Himalaya the book is well worth reading. The authors provide contextual photographs, copius notes to the chapters, and the very first published set of maps of Himalayan districts accompanied by tabular material on 100-year population, agricultural and forest data. The introductory chapters will provide the general reader with a good background to Himalayan habitat and society. I highly recommend it.

Nigel J. R. Allan, author/editor, Human Impact on Mountains; Mountains at Risk: Current Issues in Environmental Studies; Karakorum Himalaya: A Bibliography.

Wilk develops an excellent model for talking about social organization. Based around an ethnography of the Kekchi Maya, household ecology presents a model that allows the anthropologist to deal with such issues as history, gender relations, markets, subsistence and political organization (and that is easily transferred to different settings for comparative work). This is a book for readers interested in understanding how households function as social institutions, it is replete with information and useful data. Not for a beginner, but for the student of anthropology and ecology, this is an important text.

This book has stunning photos of pre-colombian treasures. It's almost like a trip to a museum. Unfortunately, some pieces are enlarged way out of proportion, making scale difficult to gauge. Chapters include several aspects of daily life of the Incas. Also included are photo chapters on several important archelogical sites. A detailed chapter is included on the excavation on the treasures of Sipan from by Walter Alva, one of the principal investigators. This will look great on your coffee table and is a pleasure to page through and read.

Interesting, yet compact history of Latin America's independence movements is good enough to satisfy the knowledge of most who don't wish to read similar books of more than 200 pages. Published by McGraw-Hill, "Independence in Latin America: A Comparative Approach" covers most of the movements in the region, from Mexico to Chile's Tierra de Fuego. Author Richard Graham does a great job in identifying the main reasons the uprisings against Spanish, Portuguese, and French rulers happened. The emergence of England's commercial status, the attitudes towards Creoles, and finally the Napoleonic Wars were all causes that broke the colonial ties these new republics (and in Brazil's case, an "Empire") had with Madrid, Lisbon, and Paris.

The only thing very negative about this book was that the author decided to cover Haiti's independence movement, but never did cover that of the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The latter two, which gained independence and autonomy respectively after the Spanish-American War of 1898, have always been in the world's political spotlight then and now. It would have been interesting for Mr. Graham to cover these because their struggle was the longest independence war in the region's history (more than 10 years).

While the Dominican Republic gained their independence from Haiti's black rulers (the French and Spanish had fled the island after the Haitian Revolution), it would be important to cover this too. That country's struggle to break free from Haiti shows that even newly created republics in the Americas were able to be as suppressive as their European masters were.

Overall, this 180 page book is a great way to immense yourself in the history of one of the world's most important, and rising regions.

This book is, at the time of my review, slightly dated. I was in Europe to do a study of the interest in American Natives and found several of the general themes of the book still alive, but changed with the times. There are more Indians living in Europe now and the hobby clubs have become much more authentic. I have found a much stronger emphasis on Karl May than the book shows. Still, i had a chance to speek with Christian Feest, and am still confident in his ability and knowledge.

Not a bad introduction to Lexington, although one should check with a few local agencies to get a more comprehensive picture of the city.

Insight's City Guides combine stunning photography with literate text and a smattering of basic travel information. The Insight Venice guide is worth adding to your bookshelf, but its practical advice is getting a bit long in the tooth and its heft makes it less than ideal as a take-along guide. - Durant Imboden, Venice for Visitors, http://govenice.miningco.co

Carey Robinson's "The Iron Thorn" is a well-written, well-researched history of the Maroons of Jamaica. Robinson starts with the Spanish Colonization of the island in 1509 and discusses the relatively light bondage of the African slaves during Spanish colonial rule. He then describes the English invasion in 1655 and the desperate struggle for the island by the united forces of the Spanish and their now freed African slaves.

The author brings to life the development of the escaped Spanish slaves into the fighting Maroons. We see these men and women warriors hiding out in the cockpit jungle, establishing and defending their towns against the British Army. As Robinson describes it, we cannot help but admire these men and women fighting for their freedom and often winning against a superior force.

Robinson recounts the struggle of the British governors in dealing with the Maroon problem, while hampered by a demoralized army, runaway slaves, discontent, unreliable indentured servants, and deserting soldiers.

The author introduces us to the great Maroon chiefs: the commanding Cudjoe, Quao the mighty hunter, the magnificent Smith, and the mysterious Nanny, Queen and motivator of the Maroons. Robinson takes us into the settlements and towns of these freedom fighters and allows us to witness the battles to keep them. Robinson explains the decisions of each chief and illustrates how each plan led to defeat or victory.

Although, the focus of this book is the Maroons, the author also presents us with a history of Jamaica from the fifteen hundreds until the late eighteen hundreds. He explores the motives and fears of the British governors and planters as they strove to create a society free of rebellious slaves and frequent Maroon attacks. In the Epilogue, Robinson also takes a brief look at the modern Maroons and the legacy they have given Jamaica.

I found this book very interesting. The narrative did become dry at times, especially when the author felt compelled to describe in detail the arms, ammunition, and provisions it took to fight various battles. However, other parts of the book, such as the descriptions of the actual battles, the myths and legends surrounding these warriors, I found fascinating.

This book will hold the attention of both people interested in Jamaican or Caribbean history and those interested in the birth of a culture. The Maroons of Jamaica still exist although in lesser numbers than they once did. They dwell in peace in their historical towns and as part of the regular population of the country. Their undefeatable spirit and quest for freedom still exists in all Jamaicans.